The Human Side of War: German Paratroopers' Remarkable Act of Kindness during WWII - #shorts #short

Movie : The Eagle Has Landed (1976)
During the horrors of WWII, a heartwarming moment of humanity occurred when German paratroopers crossed paths with Jewish families at a railway station in the Netherlands. Despite the risk to their own safety, the paratroopers shared their food with the children, but were confronted by SS guards. In an unexpected turn of events, the paratroopers stood up to the guards and their rifles, resulting in a display of remarkable bravery and compassion. This inspiring true story is a testament to the power of human kindness, even in the midst of the darkest of times.

[frankcastillo]

The fallschirmjager are not to be messed with.... Great War film. With a favorite actor of mine, Michael Caine.

[kudraabdulaziz]

"Courage is not the absence of fear but the ability to do the right thing in the presence of fear." Someone

[OhWowInteresting]

Being a good person in a group of bad person is a lot more harder than in a group of good person

[CaptVanO]

Paratroopers are of the toughest soldiers, regardless of the army. Plus, the “crazy factor” and comraderie of being airborne is enough to cow anybody not airborne.

[shannonlim]

Special forces will always be special forces. In the modern day we often forget just how cutting edge paratroopers in the 40s were.

[AmbroseBoaBowie]

I remember this one story. True story btw.
An old WWII vet was at a school talking to some kids. A kid asks
“Do you still hate the Germans?”
And the old man replied
“I never hated the Germans. I hated the Nazis”

[thesturmvogel]

yeah so fun fact the fallschrimjager had a clash with the american airborne a few dozen kilometres from lyons in france and it resulted in a total german victory, about 30 FJs wounded or killed about 70 AA, but the one that where left the fallschrimjagers left behind medical supplies they stole from another camp with hand drawn and written instructions telling the US Airborne how to properly treat gunshot wounds incase they where novices and didnt know

And throughout the war the FJs constantly ended up at odds with the commander of the Luftwaffe, Hermann Göring for not only showing mercy but compassion aswell

The FJs defended their actions to the end of the war stating it was about winning not slaughtering your enemies

Some members of the FJs that remained at the wars close in europe joined what remained of the 12th and 9th armies escorting civilians out of berlin and into american soldiers to spare them death at the hands of the russians

Its kinda strange to think about these men now, hope they found peace when it was all over

[twva]

“Do what is right, let the consequence follow.”

[furanduron]

Even in darkest times, we cannot stop being human.

[professor.moriarty]

Another example is the luft stalag 3 commandant Colonel Friedrich Wilhelm von Lindeiner-Wildau, who never joined the party throughout his career because he hated nazis, he's the old guard war veteran stereotype. He treated all of the allied pows with decency and respect, personally lead his staff to defend the pows from getting interrogated by the gestapo, even after being investigated and intimidated by the SS.

After the war ended he was brought to England for trial, he was so respected, every allied pows stayed in his camp stood up for him as witnesses to plead not guilty.

[qsartwrx]

As a Paratrooper that traveled all over the globe, we intimidated most but children had no problem making friends with us.

[raphietsukimi]

"Not all soldiers follow orders we're Humans and not heartless. We have our own free will to choose either to be Good or Evil."

[greghawthorne]

In April 1945, the POW camp my Grandfather was in was liberated, but before the Americans arrived, the SS showed up to eliminate the prisoners. The guards were Wehrmacht and fought the SS protecting the POWs

[baconwhale]

"You are bad guy, but this does not mean you are bad guy." - Zangief

[emmawati-rotc]

The scene of the confrontation between the Fallschirmjager & the SS Guards from the movie, The Eagle has landed, actually took place. In the real life incident it was a German Panzer unit which confronted the SS Guards - not the Fallschirmjager unit. The offended German was a Panzer NCO Kurt Knispel, who after this incident went on to become a Panzer tank Ace credited with more than 160 rank kills.
Because of this incident Kurt Knispel was stigmatized by his superior & his achievements in battle was overlooked & downplayed by his unit superiors. He became the forgotten German Panzer tank commander Ace & was overlooked for promotion & medals award

[Any-o-who]

My uncle's bomber was shot down by flak when he jumped out and landed he broke his leg. A German family in the forest found him, splinted his leg and fed him. He was later captured in the forest by a German patrol. Spent 9months in a German pow camp. Not all Germans were Nazis or blood thirsty. He had great respect for this family. They were devoted Christians.

[bobbycrenshaw]

There is an instance in Poland where the Wehrmacht would not allow the SS to cross a bridge to slaughter a Jewish village. SS backed down and left.

An SS doctor (Hans Munich)refused to do barbaric experiments on Jewish prisoners, was captured by the Soviets and tried for war crimes…..but Jews who heard such about his trial testified on his behalf. Soviets exonerated him.

[longandshort]

I know no one will accept this. But my grandfather was in the Waffen SS during WW2 on the eastern front. He was taken as a POW. While he was being marched along under armed guard he handed his gold signet ring to a little girl with his name and address in Germany in it along with his food ration pack. He died in Russian captivity. Well in 1954 my grandmother received a small parcel in the post from Russia. It contained my grandfather’s signet ring with a letter in Russian thanking her for my grandfather’s kindness in giving up all his food to her daughter. This letter was sent by the mother of that little girl. And I now in 2023 wear this signet ring. The point is that there were people caught up in the river of history that they could not stop - and that individual acts of human kindness still broke through the barriers of hate and evil.

[huhsz]

The SS was actually well disliked by the other branches of the military due to their actions. A squadron leader in the German Luftwaffe once said that if he ever saw his men shoot down a parachuting enemy pilot, he would shoot them down himself.

[aldrichbalnazzar]

Most of the German Army really didn't like the SS if i recall correctly